RTA goes on to state that they fired the driver because his actions were NOT in self-defense:

Mr. Hughes claims that his actions were in self-defense. The evidence does not support that claim.

We expect our employees to diffuse any potential situation. We do not believe that Mr. Hughes took the proper steps to diffuse this situation.

The proper procedure would have been to pull over and stop the bus, then call Transit Police for assistance.

Employees should take precautions in situations such as this one to protect the safety of other RTA customers and the public. Mr. Hughes did not take the proper precautions, nor did he follow procedure.

For the above reasons, Mr. Hughes has been terminated from RTA. (source)

Money Mayweather should hire him as a trainer and perfect that upper cut.

bmarie

lol

lockstress

I hope the chick gets her worth….NOTHING!

Poor man. (couldn’t be no one I was related to or knew…I’d clown her azz for the rest of her miserable days! Poor guy. I’m not saying I agree with the verdict…but I do understand.

Elle Michelle

I think they should have reassigned him to a position that is not people facing. This would have given him the opportunity to work until retirement. I don’t think he should have lost his job. If he’s a union worker, I am sure this is not the last we will hear of this.

No he didn’t.. That stupid girl started it… How about pay your fare n sit your ass down or GTFOTB!!!!

Tyrone Powell via Facebook

He was a idiot,he was assaulted but everyone should know if you on the job fighting your ass is fired.

plumkin999

He was showing off, man of his age should have handled himself much better. He got what he deserves!!!! I hope he did loose his pension plan.

Toney

Exactly! When you are working, you are a representative of the company. If he had been off the clock that might have been different. The company doesn’t pay you to get into Mortal Kombat style fights with the customers.

Jaye

This is some real bullshit. Verbal assault is one thing that I can tolerate to a certain degree, but hitting and spitting on a person, I would have knocked the fuck out of that bitch too. Now this man who was employed for 20 some years is terminated becasue he defended himself, I pray that he gets some type of pension or sevrence. Now just to touch on how fucked up shit can get, I predict this hussey is getting or gotten a settlement of some sort!!!

She was a hoodrat to the tenth power, but he is way too old to have reacted the way he did. He should have called transit police and had her arrested for assault. Now he has no job. Don’t let hoodrats mess up your money, EVER.

stlchick

This I can agree with. While she was confrontational and downright ignorant, he was on the clock and could’ve handled the situation in another way (call the cops). I don’t know why they said it wasn’t self defense, because she did strike first. However, the cops could’ve been called before it got to that point. I hate he lost his job, but I understand the reasoning behind it.
Hope he has his pension, and I hope he sues that chickenhead.

Philly Finest!

There are protocals that are to be followed, However ole gurl learned a valuable lesson that day, and best believe she will think twice before she step up to a man again.

I hope he can keep his penision too!

More than like she will not recieve jail time ( maybe probation or community service) anyway I believe they both dropped the charges on each other.

Either way….Maybe someone will hook him up with a job (security!!!) Ti! 50, Diddy ( we all know he can land a punch..Hook him up!

stlchick

lol

Camille Williams via Facebook

No matter how you are provoked you can’t act like you are in the streets,on your job .

1CrazyMF

WHERE MESSY JESSIE AND AL SHARPTON WHEN YOU NEED THEM?

Kimberley Childers via Facebook

He should have remember that he was on his job…smh…big dummie

Really!!

There should be a donation fund set up for him, like it was for the older lady who was a monitor on a school bus who was being bullied by certain kids on the bus. She got over $700,000 a few weeks after the video was uploaded.

If it comes out that he lost his pension or retirement pay because of this hood rat then I hope a follow up post is done on him so a fund can be started for him. I would gladly donate.

LXL

There should be because I would donate too.

Vay

I wouldnt give him a dime of my money. A man who could hit a woman like that gets no love from me…at all.

I Don’t Believe H*ES That Sing Off Key

Any woman that can spit on and hit a man like SHE is a man deserves what she gets. All of that "I Can hit you but you can’t hit me" BS is what has our women getting their faces punched in today.

Vay

So did she hit him or spit on his because she definately did not do both? Also look at the video at what point did he wipe away spit from his face, at what point did he say she spit on him, at what point did the people on the bus say she spit on him?! NEVER while on the bus oh wait AFTER the fact…lol. I personally believe the spit thing was to justify what he did and there is no justification for it.He is not worth a penny of my money.

shad

please…a woman shouldnt hit a man either…gtfoh

Vay

I never said she should so you GTFOH with that shit.

BaytotheA

My mom works for muni(sf transit) and she told me he would get fired the day all this went viral. There is a strict pOlicy in place and one of te biggies is that the city does not want to deal with lawsuits. Always told to call supervisor, transit cops and/or real cops when it is viable and it clearly was. He was obviously assaulted but he was not being continuously assaulted. It was an illegal act made against him and not self defense. It was him wanting to teach her a lesson and his human instinct kicked in. He would not have been fired if he followed protocol. Doesn’t matter what your personal opinion is, they are trained to know exactly what to do in this event. If you don’t agree with the policy then dont take the job. I’m sure he has been in numerous incidents as a bus driver. My mom no longer drives but has been working for the agency for 23 yrs and always used her common sense. Worse for her as a woman!

Vay

I agree 100%

l

Right!That is the truth.Call authorities and put crazy people off of the bus.

Sangria

The RTA did what they had to do as a company, but he’s a union worker. He’ll be back to work in due time. And at any rate, with 20 years of service he is fully vested in his pension. Kudos to him for knocking her on her butt and good luck to him in his future.

hill

no he wont , union job or not, this is untrue. he’s done, contact rta and his union, learn some things.

No. He remain calm for a long time before he exploded. It’s human nature

dj

ya he should have been fired. bus drivers can be real ass holes.

Vay

I’m glad he was fired we must send a message that what he did was not ok. Now it’s time for her to deal with her charges as well. Neither one is innocent…

Somer

I agree Sangria, cause he is a union worker he is probably already back at work. I felt like she got what she deserved. She on these morning talk shows acting all innocent. That’s why somebody else sliced up her face before ole boy knocked her azz out

Tiffany Lovemyboo via Facebook

Heck naw. That’s messed up she assaulted that man

riann

Yes, he went ham on that girl. He beat her ass to no end. He chose to wup her ass over his job. I bet you now he wished he would have followed the rules and yes she was completely wrong and out of her mind.

Meeka

She was wrong for coming at him like that, but he was wrong for punching her out especially when he was on the clock. They were both wrong and as someone else said this will reinforce to people that they need to follow protocol when they are on the clock.

hotdogsonthegrill

He should have just got his granddaughter or daughter like he said lol. She would have gotten her behind whipped and he would still have his job. Look like somebody already done sliced your face up LOL that’s what really set it off on that bus…she got indignant after that remark.

Vay

hahahaha

l

Yes, she was assaulted and the driver made fun of her previous injuries.I believe this is what caused the confusion in the first place.After that was said, he was waiting to whip on her behind.SMH

td

Anyone, whatsoever, condoning the violence that this man displayed is someone I am extremely happy I don’t have to deal with. I like to move in the circles of intelligent, prudent people. Nothing this man did was intelligent or prudent. I agree with his employer’s assessment of his actions. He did NOT follow proper procedures and he was fired as a result of the aforementioned; his employer’s decision, not mine.

He absolutely should NOT have hit that woman the way he did, regardless of her instigating the incident. He’s a man. He’s much stronger than she is. Now, I don’t think she should get off w/o faces disciplinary action. But his violence was not self defense. The way he hit her, he could have killed her. Thank God he did not.

I’m not happy he was fired, especially in this day and age. But his reaction is the reason why he was fired. It was not my hope for him to be fired either; only that some disciplinary action be taken. I hope he finds another way to feed his family, because I do believe in redemption. May God bless you, Sir.

bay2theA

i agree with everything you said!

hill

he was instructed on how to diffuse the situation, there were several things he could have done,(b4 the situation got out of control) and 1 of them is not arguing with patrons because they can hit or even kill you. any bus company would have fired him. this is a job, and he was a professional!!!!!!

Chree(Columbus,Ohio)

I knew this would happen. I don’t think he deserved to lose his job over it. Spitting on someone is not a joke I would kill if somebody spit on me. He was provoked so he did what he had to do. Firing him is just like saying women can abuse men and get away with it just because. Yes I’m a women but if I’m hitting & spitting on a man I’m expecting to be hit. Point blank period.

Diva Dawn

Everyone keeps saying she provoked him, but if you watched the video then you saw he was involved in a back-and-forth conversation with her hurling insults. For every time she said she would do something to him, he replied back that he would call someone to whoop her a@@. When the first threat was made by her, he should have stopped and called the transit police. Unfortunately, he did not and has now been fired. I truly hate this for him, as the Internet video will probably make it hard for him to get another job. But every company has rules, and as much as we may disagree with them, we have to follow them if we wish to remain employed.

hotdogsonthegrill

There is actually two videos floating around and unless you have seen the longer version you need not say she didn’t hit him. He was assaulted first and it’s clear as day. Not to mention the official police transcripts from eye witnesses on the bus that said she actually did hit him first. Although I do not condone violence all I’m saying is for every action there is a positive or negative reaction, so be prepared.

Diva Dawn

I’ve seen both and true, she did hit him first. I agree with you on that. But regardless, he should have followed policy. Plus the lick she gave him was nowhere near as bad as the one he gave her. I know that won’t matter to most, but take it from someone who has worked in HR in that field…you go through training on how to deal with these kinds of conflicts. The companies are aware that sick people ride their buses and they prepare you on the proper thing to do. As for the union, his rep should have been present when they fired him. I don’t know if he will be comin back.

shad

yes she did. it was even talked about on our local news, it happened here…
she hit him first according to all 5 witness statements

hotdogsonthegrill

I never said that he shouldn’t have followed the policy. He should of. What I’m saying is human nature/science for that matter…for every action there is a reaction. Whether it be positive or negative. You can’t escape that. You can rationalize after the fact however. In this case his reaction was negative. As far as I’m concerned this whole society is messed up because if I was on that bus she would have sat her ass down. Woman to woman is totally different. I’m not talking I would have gotten physical but I would have gotten her butt to sit, drop some knowledge on her slow self because clearly she’s misguided, uneducated and broken walking around trying to mask her pain with being violent and nasty. Everybody just stood there and it got out of hand. Now she will sue and the taxpayers will pay. Something is wrong here.

Vay

"As far as I’m concerned this whole society is messed up because if I was on that bus she would have sat her ass down."

I totally agree!

Vay

*My comment from the last post on this topic…my thoughts still havent changed.

I have tried hard to place blame on one person over the other and I just cant. I have seen several videos and different angles and maybe I am still missing something…#1 They BOTH were very disrespectful towards each other the driver threatened to even crash the bus THEN beat her ass, he also threatened to get his daughter and granddaughter on her. He also kept saying “spit on me, I dare you I dare, spit on me” during the course of ALL of this he stopped at least two times to let passengers off. You mean to tell me he could not have radioed in that this was happening, called the police, asked one of the nosey passengers to use their phones to call the police, or put her off the bus at one of the stops…He was just as much part of the drama as that chick was. He was NEVER worried about the other people on that bus or their safety and that is HIS job not hers.
The chick was dead wrong and seemed to be stalling by starting an argument just to get to where she needed to go clearly she was not looking for money. She was equally as disrespectful as he was threatening him with having her man to get him. NOW…I don’t believe she spit, hit AND chocked him as I have seen some people say. I can see she did something and it looked like a hit because NEVER at one time did he say “she spit on me”or did anyone on the bus say “she spit on him”…never and whatever it was she did lasted less than a second. Yes I know later after the fact the driver (and two passengers) said she spit and hit him but I am not sure I believe she did all that. I think he was trying to justify what he did. Again, I do believe she hit him which was wrong.
Him hitting her…I cannot nor will I ever condone a man hitting a woman…ever. He was angry, frustrated because she wouldn’t shut up and just needed one reason to do what he did to her. The whole “you going to jail now” makes me think that he either think he is the law OR was trying to catch her off guard either way when he took the time to pull the bus over (NEVER wiping away the so called spit) got out of his seat it was not in self-defense. Had that been the case he could have just thrown her off the bus but like a child he wanted his lick back…I see two generations of ignorance and I hope that they both get what they deserve. Let me also say men are stronger than women and they were created that way on purpose not to be used as a weapon against them. He was very unprofessional.
Just my opinion…

BaybeK8s

I’m not usually a violent person,but for a split second I felt the bus driver should have found this hood rat and give her another upper cut. i would have made losing my job worth while. lol Seriously,I pray the bus driver gets his pension.

So messed up… the world we living in. Now Shi’dea have the nerve to be acting all innocent. Gimme a break.

Al-B

Though I agree that the girl got exactly what she deserved and I would’ve liked to have seen him NOT lose his job, he did violate company policy. Now we can argue that the policy requires unreasonable expectations of restraint in situations like this from it’s drivers, but in my opinion the explanation given by the transit department was a fair one. Maybe some rich athlete, rapper, etc. will hire him on as their driver and pay him some ridiculous amount of money to make up for all that he’s losing from this job. Hell, maybe people who support what he did should do what someone did for the old lady bus monitor that got teased by some punk-ass kids and raise money online for him. She got over $600,000 for being teased!! Now this guy got spit, hit, fired, and lost his pension…where’s the support for him??

gabrickz

Men have to learn that just because a woman calls you out of your name,endangers several innocent passengers, hit and attacks you, spits on you, he has no right to hit her I mean what was he thinking He should have just took it like a real man
GTFOOH

hotdogsonthegrill

That’s exactly why this woman in the video got her behind whopped because she thought the same thing; that men shouldn’t hit women. Did her way of thinking stop her from getting hit? No, it didn’t and do you know why? Because every man doesn’t share the same sentiment. Go around hitting men if you want to and don’t think just because your a woman your not going to get hit back. A lot of women use that as an excuse to abuse men. She tried her luck banking on that notion and looks like it didn’t work out for her. Well everyone doesn’t get raised the same. I don’t agree with what he did but she had no right to put her hands on him and I’m almost certain had she not have done that we wouldn’t even be talking about it. Something tells me this wasn’t her first nor will be her last run in with the law. I will not put all the blame on him. The moral of this story is to keep your damn hands to yourself men and women alike.

anotherNote

I don’t condone coming from the gut and hitting a female. Though it was funny. She spit on him and that is a threatt. She could have the ‘itis or AIDS, he had no way of knowing. I would file lawsuit because no one deserves to be spat on and then expected to sit there and take it. I am going to take this opportunity for a public service announcement. Women, though men or taught not to ever, ever, ever hit a female. Guys these days are cut from a different cloth. If you gonna talk the smack, assume that you dealing with a new age dude, and back up or learn to bob n weave. She didn’t even take a fighting stance just kept talking.

Al-B

I agree with you, but by the same token, women are not cut from the same cloth that they used to be either. 30 years ago it would’ve been almost impossible to find a woman who would carry on in this manner, but now-a-days it’s not hard at all. I’m sorry, but whether it’s a man, woman, or a child if you purposely hit or spit on me you better damn-well expect some form of physical retaliation from me!

Gossipgirl

That’s bullshyt…he had been working there for decades and it was that bytch that started the a fight her azz couldn’t finish…SMH….